Solona Amell

"Understood," he says before making his way back towards his tent to tell Nellie that he'd be staying up. He stops mid-walk and turns his head slightly. "And... thank you, Anders."

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Anders just nods, smiling slightly.

"No problem."

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Cullen nods and makes it back to his tent, peeking in to check in on Nellie. "Are you alright, love?"

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Nellie blinks and nods sleepily.

"I'm okay...are you staying up?"

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"I have to stay up," Cullen replies with a weak smile. "I--," Maker, he wanted to stay, "I'm sorry I can't..."

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"It's okay. I'll be waiting here when you get back."

She gives him a sleepy smile and a thumbs up.

"You go do what you have to do, Cullen."

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She made his heart melt. She really did. He moves into the tent to kiss her cheek. "I love you, you know that?" He smiles at her, kissing her full on the lips instead before moving out of the tent. "Get some rest, love."

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"Love you too, Cullen. I'll be here when you get back."

She kisses him back, smiling and waving as he moves out of the tent before, exhausted, she falls asleep. She knows he'll do a good job keeping watch.

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Cullen yawns and stretches, leaning over to grab a piece of firewood from the pile he'd collected out of boredom. He throws it into the fire and watches it crackle. He's not sure how much time has passed but he's sure that it didn't amount to the amount of time he thought he'd spent sitting there.

Probably less.

Like an hour or so.

Solona however stirs in her sleep, waking up to a completely unfamiliar place. A tent? When did she get inside a tent?

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Anders is lying next to her, asleep, snoring slightly. He's got another hour or so before its his turn to go on watch duty, and he's exhausted.

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Solona rolls to her side wondering where the noise was coming from. "Bugger, Anders," she smiles, scooting over next to him. She pulls one of his arms around her shoulders and snuggles against it and goes back to sleep.

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Anders doesn't wake up at the movement, but he does wrap his arm around her in his sleep.

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Cullen sleepily watches the fire crackle. He didn't even realize how worn out he was but duty called. He looks up at the moon. The placement was quite right. A bit over three hours, in fact.

He groggily stands up and makes his way towards Anders' tent. He peers inside to find him and Solona held tight together. He feels a bit torn waking him up but he has to. Even he needs some sleep.

"Anders," Cullen whispers, tapping Anders' leg. "Your turn."

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Anders groans and wakes up, slowly, looking sleepily at Cullen.

"Whasa...oh, right...my turn...go get some sleep, Cullen..."

Rubbing at his eyes and making sure Solona is comfortable, Anders gets up and takes Cullen's spot at watch.

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Cullen nods and retreats back to his tent. He finds Nellie asleep, looking extremely at peace. He can't help but smile. He moves in beside her, the sleep deprivation taking away all his apprehension and wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her close. His nose presses against her hair and he breathes in her familiar scent.

Perfect.

With that, he drifts off to sleep.

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Anders takes the guard for the rest of the night. The next morning, Nellie is still snuggled against Cullen, sleeping peacefully.

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Solona peeks out of her tent wondering where in the Void Anders went. She finds him seated next to what's left of the fireplace.

"What are you doing awake so early?" she asks, moving over to sit beside him. "Cullen and Nellie are still asleep. You should still be asleep too."

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Anders yawns and gives Solona a sleepy smile.

"It was my turn to do watch duty..."

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"You could have woken me up! I slept for a good bulk of the night." She gives him a kiss on the cheek before going back to the tent to get some ingredients for breakfast from her pack. "I'll cook you something. And remind me to get some coffee for us once we get to Lothering."

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"Coffee...coffee would be good, yes."

He laughs, rubbing at one of his eyes, giving Solona a smile.

"Sol, you were asleep before the tents were set up. You needed the sleep. I got a few hours, I'm fine."

Still, he's not going to say no to a good breakfast.

"Should we get the two lovebirds up?"

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"I was asleep before the tents were set up, meaning I had more hours of sleep and I could have stood watch!" Solona pouts. She didn't like the fact the boys were doing all the work. She could do something too! Aside from cook because, Maker, she wasn't the stay-at-home kind of woman. "Oh, and, I'm sorry about falling asleep on your back..." She smiles sheepishly.

"And no, you don't look fine. You look absolutely tired. How long have you been up, exactly?" She moves towards the leftover coals of the fire, sets a few pieces of wood down on it and ignites them. They burst into bright, red flames and Solona sets a pan over it. "And yes, maybe you should wake Cullen and Nellie up. We have to get a move on quickly, right?" She cracks a few eggs over the pan and fries a few strips of bacon.

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Anders smiles and shakes his head. "I know you could've, but you looked so cozy, I felt bad waking you up. And don't apologize, I didn't mind being a pillow."

He winks at her, before yawning.

"Dunno. Cullen had the first watch, then I took over...so...3 hours? 4? Maybe?"

He nods.
"I'll go deal with them, and then we can start packing up to get out of here."

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"Have I ever told you that you're the best pillow ever?" She grins, turning to face him, poking at the bacon as it sizzled in the heat. "And the scruff is marvelous too. Never, ever shave it off."

The food was just about ready. One more poke at the eggs and-- Viola! Breakfast! She sets the pan aside for the meal to cool down.

"You've been awake for more than three hours already? What did you do to pass the time?" she calls out to him as he makes his way towards the other tent.

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"Dear, I don't plan on ever shaving it."

He winks at her before going over and peeking into the tent. He stares in there for a moment, before looking over to Solona and motioning for her to come over.

Nellie and Cullen are still asleep, Nellie using Cullen's chest for a pillow, arms wrapped around him , a slight smile on her face.

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